"I'm not dead yet! The pool's pH is also in balance"
When you get down to it; that's really what counts.
When you get down to it; that's really what counts.
Hit With Muriatic Acid Fumes
- Thread starter Snowymoon
- Start date
Here is a question.
Where/how do you store MA during the winter? I really don't like the thought of it anywhere in my home.
Where/how do you store MA during the winter? I really don't like the thought of it anywhere in my home.
I had a bad time with Muriatic acid one time.
The first hotel I ever managed on my own, I had to fire my engineer for stealing. Since it was a small property, I just figured I would handle the maintenance myself. Including the pool.
All I had ever done before this was test a hotel pool with strips, shock when needed, and vacuum once a week.
I took inventory of the chemicals, took a water sample, and went to a pool store. They analyzed the water (with strips! :?) and sold me $150 worth of chemicals, including three gallons of acid.
I got back to the hotel, left the chemicals in the car, and went in to take care of some business. It was 98 degrees (St Pete Florida) and my Escort hatchback was in direct sun. One of the bottles had blow by on the vented cap after the car had set for 30 - 45 minutes.
I got my bank deposit together, and went to get in the car. I opened the door, sat down, and was almost immediately knocked out of the car by the fumes! It took me about 10 minutes to get my breath, after which I unloaded the chemicals and put them in the pool shed.
That car never was the same. A lot of the plastic things in the car started to slowly disintegrate, and all of the metal in the passenger compartment and hatchback area was completely rusted over in about 3 months.
The first hotel I ever managed on my own, I had to fire my engineer for stealing. Since it was a small property, I just figured I would handle the maintenance myself. Including the pool.
All I had ever done before this was test a hotel pool with strips, shock when needed, and vacuum once a week.
I took inventory of the chemicals, took a water sample, and went to a pool store. They analyzed the water (with strips! :?) and sold me $150 worth of chemicals, including three gallons of acid.
I got back to the hotel, left the chemicals in the car, and went in to take care of some business. It was 98 degrees (St Pete Florida) and my Escort hatchback was in direct sun. One of the bottles had blow by on the vented cap after the car had set for 30 - 45 minutes.
I got my bank deposit together, and went to get in the car. I opened the door, sat down, and was almost immediately knocked out of the car by the fumes! It took me about 10 minutes to get my breath, after which I unloaded the chemicals and put them in the pool shed.
That car never was the same. A lot of the plastic things in the car started to slowly disintegrate, and all of the metal in the passenger compartment and hatchback area was completely rusted over in about 3 months.
Ewwwww. The stuff is pure evil, IMO, but it works so well in the pool that I deal with it. 
I had to add some to the pool this morning, and I held my breath the entire time. As soon as I opened the bottle, the cloud escaped and floated about. Ick. The last bottle I had did not seem to cloud like this. This bottle is also in a solid container, not a see-through one, so I have to pour it out to measure it. :? Funstuff.
I had to add some to the pool this morning, and I held my breath the entire time. As soon as I opened the bottle, the cloud escaped and floated about. Ick. The last bottle I had did not seem to cloud like this.
This bottle is also in a solid container, not a see-through one, so I have to pour it out to measure it. :? Funstuff. This thread has convinced me that I had definately best stick with the PH Minus/dry acid for now. I am so clumsy anyway that I would most likely trip over a cat and end up with chemical burns to the bone and an eye patch before a week was out using MA.
I think MA is something that they are using to manufacture the meth also, so as sure as I went in and bought a bottle, I would end up on some drug agency watch list and my house would get raided at 3am, most likely AFTER the bottle of MA had already been stolen by the meth people
I think MA is something that they are using to manufacture the meth also, so as sure as I went in and bought a bottle, I would end up on some drug agency watch list and my house would get raided at 3am, most likely AFTER the bottle of MA had already been stolen by the meth people
You can often find muriatic acid at half strength, 15.725%, which is much easier to deal with. It often costs twice as much for a given PH change that way and it is not exactly totaly safe, but it is nowhere near as difficult to handle.
Muriatic Acid is some bad stuff, but the biggest danger is the fumes. As long as you stay clear of those, you will be fine. It can burn you, but if you get any on you, as long as you flush with water immediately, you will be fine. Just be very careful with it. And wear a mask.
Oh, and don't leave it in a car on a hot day! I wish the teenager at the pool store had warned me about that! :?
Oh, and don't leave it in a car on a hot day! I wish the teenager at the pool store had warned me about that! :?
Oh, please do tell. What happened when you left your acid in your car on a hot day?
Awww man. I just acid bathed my pool with it yesterday and had no protection. I got a wiff of the fumes pretty good a few times. My lungs last night felt like after you got done being sick, but when i woke up in the morning i felt fine. I dunno????
The good news, if you can call it that, about Muriatic Acid fumes is that they tell your body when there is a problem to be avoided. Unlike carbon monoxide which is odorless and colorless and can kill you, the hydrochloric acid is strongly sensed by your nose even in very small concentrations so it is more difficult to get seriously injured from it. The most serious injuries come from those in enclosed environments (such as chem labs if a spill occurs outside of a "hood" environment). That doesn't mean you don't need to be careful -- but it does mean that you've got an early warning system that prevents the most serious damage.
The easiest thing to do is to have the Muriatic Acid downwind and to hold one's breath (if possible) or at least breathe looking away. A more costly solution is to use the lower strength Muriatic Acid that should really be at a lower price (but usually isn't -- talk about deception!).
Richard
The easiest thing to do is to have the Muriatic Acid downwind and to hold one's breath (if possible) or at least breathe looking away. A more costly solution is to use the lower strength Muriatic Acid that should really be at a lower price (but usually isn't -- talk about deception!).
Richard
This question doesn't pretain to inhaling huriatic acid fumes, but rather the dangers of storing the stuff. I had a plastic gallon jug of muriaticacid that I stored on a wooden shelf in my screen porch next to and possibly touching the metal screening. The next time I went to get the jug, I discovered the metal screen had actually disolved or disintegrated. I told several people about it and they looked at me like I'm nuts. Has anyone heard of this happening before, or does anyone know if this can happen? Gosh, I hope I'm not nuts!
Muriatic acid is corrosive to a whole host of different metals including stainless steel. It's very possible that the bottle vented some vapors out the cap on a good warm day and over time it ate the metal screen away.
I store my MA in the shed but the vapor has gotten to lots of metal stuff I store in the shed (tools, bikes, etc.) and they now have surface rust. I've started placing a plastic grocery bag over the top to help minimize the vapors, but still don't think it is an ideal solution. I definitely don't want to store it in my garage where I have more valuable stuff. Does anyone store it in some kind of bin or anything to minimize the vapor effects?
Safety goggles
Chemical gloves.
Take a huge breath, hold it, pour gently into plastic measuring container
Stop, put cap on, step 5 feet away. Breathe, breathe, breathe
Take another huge breath, put as close to the water as possible with your head turned away.
Rinse container quickly
Step (far) away...Breathe! Breathe! Breath!
Do not attempt when there is wind/breeze present.
Chemical gloves.
Take a huge breath, hold it, pour gently into plastic measuring container
Stop, put cap on, step 5 feet away. Breathe, breathe, breathe
Take another huge breath, put as close to the water as possible with your head turned away.
Rinse container quickly
Step (far) away...Breathe! Breathe! Breath!
Do not attempt when there is wind/breeze present.
svenpup
LifeTime Supporter
This has been discussed here many times.
I actually prefer a little breeze: keep the wind at you back and it carries the fumes away.
I add the acid to a 5 gallon pail 3/4 full of pool water. That way I can pour more quickly. Then I add the diluted acid to the pool.
Always add acid to water. Never add water to acid.
I actually prefer a little breeze: keep the wind at you back and it carries the fumes away.
I add the acid to a 5 gallon pail 3/4 full of pool water. That way I can pour more quickly. Then I add the diluted acid to the pool.
Always add acid to water. Never add water to acid.
Both Muriatic Acid and Chlorinating Liquid are stored in containers that have vented caps. That means that they are NOT air-tight. This is intentional to prevent any gas buildup in the containers from bursting them, but it does mean that some gas leakage can occur either from gas buildup or higher temperatures. This is a particular problem for Muriatic Acid which should be stored in a well-ventilated area and preferably away from metal that can corrode. I store my acid in a box outside and not in the pool shed or garage.
I've just fitted an Acid dosing pump and I drilled a hole through the pump house wall so that the acid is outside in the fresh air. That way it's away from any chlorine, the vapours get blown away and the equipment in the pool room doesn't suffer from corrosion. Every pump room I've worked in that has an SWG with acid pump has that 5 gallon drum of acid, and anything metal in that room is always rusting. We've tried drilling through the cap of the drum and feeding the pipe through there but it always seems to leak fumes. Outside is better methinks, and sat on some wood, not concrete. Brilliant for cleaning out concrete mixers though.
- Apr 26, 2009
- 419
I always try to stay down-wind, not always successfully. All of my clothes that I use for work have chlorine stains and holes in them. Every once and a while after adding acid I'll drive away and feel an "itching" on my leg, and assume it's a splatter that got me (and I just spit on it ).
But if you want to smell something REALLY nasty...
I dose my pools with a plastic quart cup (I keep tables with me on all my pools to tell me how much FC a quart will add). I always dose the Cl near one return, and dose the HCL near another return (and try to be "upwind").
BUT - one time I forgot to rinse the Cl out of the little plastic cup. Mind you we're not talking very much at all - enough to wet the sides and a little of the bottom. I poured acid into the cup, and it fizzed pretty wildly - and then got a whiff.
Now I've smelled acid before and it makes you wish you hadn't - but these fumes were 10x worse. Took me 10 minutes to recover.
Lesson learned. Always rinse the cup!
).But if you want to smell something REALLY nasty...
I dose my pools with a plastic quart cup (I keep tables with me on all my pools to tell me how much FC a quart will add). I always dose the Cl near one return, and dose the HCL near another return (and try to be "upwind").
BUT - one time I forgot to rinse the Cl out of the little plastic cup. Mind you we're not talking very much at all - enough to wet the sides and a little of the bottom. I poured acid into the cup, and it fizzed pretty wildly - and then got a whiff.
Now I've smelled acid before and it makes you wish you hadn't - but these fumes were 10x worse. Took me 10 minutes to recover.
Lesson learned. Always rinse the cup!